noun
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precipitation in the form of raindrops
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meteorol the amount of precipitation in a specified place and time
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rainfall
Vocabulary lists containing rainfall
The Water Cycle - Introductory
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Earth Science - Middle School
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The Water Cycle - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Autumn has been relatively calm in many areas with little in the way of disruptive weather and rainfall has remained deficient across a huge swathe of England and Wales.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
“Right now, it does not look like rainfall rates will be hazardous unless a thunderstorm develops,” read a National Weather Service forecast read early Monday morning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026
This year, excessive rainfall in many parts of the Corn Belt are making access to fields by combines harder to manage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
It declares an El Nino when temperatures there run at least 0.5C above normal and the atmosphere responds, weakening the trade winds and shifting tropical rainfall eastward.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
Japan’s high rainfall also ensures that its forest regenerates quickly after logging.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Most notably, in May 2017, some 6 million cubic yards of earth moved after torrential rainfalls, adding 15 acres of coastline.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2024
Scientists have discovered a new technique which will shed light on the phenomena of winter monsoons -- the heavy autumn and winter rainfalls which can cause floods and landslides across southeast Asia.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2023
“So if the rainfalls are spread out in a way that sustains plant growth, you can see some very significant population increases.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2023
Other parts of the country witnessed heavy rainfalls and floods.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2023
It is our second month in Anlungthmor and we are amid one of the worst rainfalls ever.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
